Mine skip for inclines



April 4,1961 J. w. CLARK MINE SKIP FOR INCLINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 11, 1958 INVENTOR. JAMES W. CLARK I %;a W

ATTQRNEV April 1961 J. w. CLARK 2,978,123

MINE SKIP FOR INCLINES Filed April 11, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 as m, 42 4 )8 as I m. I g 6 II I s J IIWENCTOR. R K Fl 6. 4 AME 5 LA Ar'ronuzv United States Patent MINE SKIPFOR 1NCLINES 7 James W. Clark, Marquette, Mich, assignor to Lake Shore, Inc.,' Iron Mountain, Mich, a corporation of Michigan i Filed Apr. 11,1958, Ser. No. 727,896 Claims. (Cl. 214-103 This invention relates to a mine skip designed to work on an incline such as when hauling ore from an open pit mine.

In open pit mining the ore, rubble, etc. has generally been hauled from the mine by truck. The skips available for this work have not had enough operating speed, particularly in the dump section, to compete with trains or large trucks. The present skip is designed to overcome this objection and make high speed material handling available to open pit mines and toother mines such as shaft mines having inclined tunnels.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a fast operating, clean dumping skip for operating on an incline.

Another object is to provide askip which can be hauled fast and will dump cleanly and rapidly in a short s ace.

A further object is to provide a skip for operation on an incline and having a positive-acting dump door.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out in, or be apparent from, the specification and claims, as will obvious modifications of the single embodiment shown in the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view of the skip as it appears in transit;

Figure 2 is a view of the skip in the dump position;

Figure 3 is a plan view taken from line 33 in Fig- 1; and

'Figure 4 is a front view taken from line 4-4 in Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings now in detail, the skip hasa body 10 which is carried on axles 12, 14 which respectively carry the rear and front body rollers or wheels 16, 18 adapted to run on the inclined rails 20. The skip has side walls 22, a sloping bottom 24 and an inclined front wall 26. The top of the skip 'is provided with a top wall 28 which extends from the rear of the body a short way forward to leave a considerable portion of the body open for charging purposes. The side plates 22 are shaped to generally conform to the angle of repose of material dumped into the body. The sloping bottom 24 and front wall 26 are so angled to position Patented-Apr. 4, 19,61

made to ride on the dump plates 36 while the rear rollers will follow the tracks 20. Figure 2 illustrates the dump stage and it will be seen'that the rails 20 dip at the dump stage which, due to the narrow tread of the rear rollers 16, causes the rear portion of the skip'to drop down between the dump plates below the grade line which is maintained by dump plates.

As the body dips into the dump position as shown in Figure 2 the door is swung open by means of the dump rollers 38 carried on axle 40 to the rear of the skip on arms 42 pivotally connected to the sides vof the body by'pin 44. The axle is'connected to the vdoor by means of links 46 connected to pins 48 onthe door. The tread of the dump rollers 38 is wide enough to ride on the dump plates 36 so that as the rear of the body dips into the dump section as shown 1 in Figure 2 the dump rollers will drop down onto the dump plates and roll along the dump plate so that the relative motion between the body and the arms must be translated into actuating the door to the open'position as shown in [Figure 2.

It will be noted that the center of the pivot 48 connecting link 46 to the door 30 lies above the imaginary line 51 interconnecting the center of the dump roller will swing closed and then as the body rollers 16 and 18 get back on the same incline the weight of the door coupled with the weight of the dump rollers will act to swing the dump rollers down to position the door pivot 48 above the center line whereupon the door is effectively locked shut and any load in the skip pressing against the door will, of necessity, act to increase the force tending to hold the door closed in the usual toggle action manner. 7

A few added details of the construction should be pointed out. During transit (as in Figure 1) the dump rollers do not ride on the track 20. This prevents any possibility of unevenness in the track actuating the door to crack the door opens-lightly and result in spillage in transit. Furthermore, it makes possible the full toggle action (in holding the door closed) to take effect. As is apparent from the drawings, the car is meant to be drawn by means of. cable 54 connected to the front end of the skip body. A train of cars could be utilized.

It will be appreciated that the slope of the floor and i the size and shape of the opening in the top portion of the bottom at a steep angle for clean dumping in the 1 dump position as will be apparent upon inspection of Figure 2.

The rear of the body is closed by door 30 pivoted Referring to Figure 3 it will be noted that the rear rollers 16 have a narrow tread permitting them to run on rails 20 while the front rollers have a much wider tread to extend laterally beyond the rails 20 and to permit the front rollers to ride on a dump plate or rail 36 placed adjacent the haulage rails 20. Therefore, as the skip enters the dump stage the front rollers can be the skip body are all dictated by the slope of the particular mine .in which the car is to be utilized. These are all design features which are modified to suit the particular installation but the principle of operation will remain the same. -It is, of course, most desirable to keep the interior of the body shaped to insure clean dumping in the dump position even if the ore is sticky. Of course, in handling quite sticky ore the pitch of the floor must be" greater to insure a clean dump.

In connection with the toggle action it will be noted that the arm 42 has an elongated hole 56 for allowing limited relative sliding motion between the arm and the pivot 44 to allow the toggle linkage to-pass over center. It may be desirable to provide the frontrollers with outside flangm to preclude shifting of the car when the front rollers are riding on the plates and the inside flangm do not serve to guide the rollers. The front axle is preferably connected to the body at a central point while the rear axle connects at two points to support the body at three points for a more stable ride.

This feature is not shown and is quite old in the art, having been used for some 25 years. The rails could maintain their angle of rise in the dump stage and the plates could rise at a greater angle to provide the same. dip to the body for dumppurposes' .This-is not, however, as convenient for providing the receiving bin installation It should also be noted that the arm and link do not have to have a common pivot to achieve the toggle action. i

In describing the closing action of the door in the preceding description, no mention was made of the closing rail 58 shownin the drawings. This rail is provided to insure that the door closes properly when the skip leaves the dump stage. Thus the roller 38 will strike the underside of the rail if the door sticks as the skip leaves the dump stage. This will force the door closed and is particularly useful in forcing the toggle mechanism over center. A similar rail can, if desired, be provided on the uphill side of the dump stage. In practice it is found quite useful to install the closing rails.

Although but one embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A skip adapted to ride on spaced rails, comprising, a body having a top charging opening and a discharge opening in the rear portion of the body, a door pivoted to the top of the body and operable to close the discharge opening, longitudinally spaced pairs of rollers supporting the body and adapted to ride on the rails, the tread width of the front rollers being greater [than the tread width of the rear rollers whereby the front rollers can ride on dump plates spaced greater than the rails while the rear rollers follow the rails, an arm pivoted on the body and extending rearwardly of the body with dump rollers at the rear of the arm, the rear of the arm being connected to the door by means of a pivoted link, the dump rollers being laterally spaced to ride on the dump plates in the dump stage, the point of connection of the link to the door being disposed above an imaginary line connecting the body pivot and the link-to-arm pivot so the door has a toggle action and the load bearing against the door in transit forces the door closed.

2. A skip according to claim 1 in which the door is provided with side skirts projecting forwardly over the body when the door is closed and covering the lateral openings between the door and the body when the door is open.

3. A skip according to claim 2 in which the link and dump rollers are connected to the arm on a common pivot axis.

4. -A mine skip installation comprising, a pair of rails running up an incline, a skip having a body provided with front and rear rollers gauged to ride on the rails, said rails leading to a dump position, dump plates positioned outside the rails in the dump position and angled with respect to the rails to provide a dip within the dumping position, the tread of the front rollers being wide enough to ride on the dump plates while the rear rollers remain on the rails, a door pivoted to the body and closing the rear portion of the body, an arm pivoted to the body and extending rearwardly of the body, dump rollers mounted on the arm rearwardly of said rear rollers and gauged to ride on the dump plates, and a link connecting the arm and the door so that. when the door is in closed position the pivot between the door and the link is above an imaginary line interconnecting the body-to-arm pivot and the link-toarm pivot to impart toggle action to the door as the rear body rollers move into the dip at the dump position.

5. A mine skip installation according to claim 4 in which the dump roller axle and the door link have a common pivot axis.

6. A mine skip installation according to claim 4 including a closing rail positioned above rails in the dump position and spaced with respect thereto to be engaged by the dump rollers to force the door closed upon the skip leaving thedump position.

7. A mine skip installation comprising, a pair of rails running up a mine slope at an angle to a dump stage, a skip having a body provided with front and rear rollers gauged to ride on the rails, dump plates outside the rails at the dump stage and having their top surfaces angled with respect to the rails to provide a dip therein at the dump stage, the tread of the front rollers being wide enough to ride on the plates in the dump stage while the rear rollers follow the rails to cause the rear of the body to dip down between the plates, a discharge door pivoted on the body and covering a discharge opening in the rear portion of the body, and door actuating means including means carried by the skip body and engageable with the dump plates at the dump stage, and toggle linkage means pivotally interconnecting said last-mentioned means, the door, and the skip body, with the pivotal connection of said linkage to the door swinging across an imaginary line passing through the other two pivots of said linkage in response to movement of the rear portion of the skip body into and out of the dip at the dump stage to respectively actuate the door to open and to closed position with a toggle action, and means responsive to movement of the rear portion responsive to movement of the rear portion of'the skip body going into or coming out of the dump stage to respectively actuate the door open or closed.

8. A mine skip installation according to claim 7 in which said last-mentioned means includes dump rollers pivotally mounted on the skip body rearwardly of the rear rollers on the skip body and adaptedto roll on the dump plate in the dump stage.

9. A mine skip installation according to claim 8 in which the dump rollers are mounted for rotation on a pivotally mounted link and in which the dump roller axis coincides with the link pivot axis.

' 10. A mine skip installation comprising, a pair of rails running up a mine slope at an angle to a dump stage, a skip having a body provided with front and rear rollers gauged to ride on the rails, dump plates outside the rails at the dump stage and having their top surfaces angled with respect to the rails, the tread of the front rollers being wide enough to ride on the plates in the dump stage While the rear rollers follow the rails to cause the rear'of the body to dip down between the plates, a discharge door pivoted on the body and covering a discharge opening in the rear portion of the body, an arm pivoted at one end to the body at a point above and intermediate the front and rear rollers, a dump roller carried by said arm rearwardly of said rear rollers on the skip body, a link pivoted at its first end to the other end of the arm and at its second end to the discharge door so that the pivot between the door and the link is above an imaginary line interconnecting the body-to-arm pivot and the linkto-arm pivot when the door is closed to impart a toggle action to the door as the rear rollers move into the dump stage.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS UNITED STATES ATENT @FFICE CE'HHATIGN Q. CQECHN Patent Nm 2 978 123 April 4 1961 James W, Clark It is hereby certified that error eppears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below Column 4 line 33 strike out "1r?egsqpomsive t0 movement of the rear portionf",

Signed and sealed this 5th day of September 19610 (SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

